Sermon Tone Analysis

*An Exposition of Psalm 94*

* *

*By Michael Aubrey*

*CPO 45*

*December 13, 2006*

*In Partial Fulfillment of \\ the Requirements for \\ Psalms - BI0213*

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Introductory Issues:

!! Psalm Type:

            Psalm 94 mixes together multiple elements of Psalm types together.

“Gunkel classifies Ps 94 as a poem of mixed styles: a communal lament in vv 1–7; a sermonic section directed toward those who despise God in vv 8–11; a speech of blessing and encouragement in vv 12–15; and an individual lament in vv 16–23.”[1]

The seeming appearance of an individual lament in the last verses instead suggests the leader of the worshiping group.[2] Likely, the Psalm is a combination of the first two, though perhaps sermonic is not the best terminology.

Verses 12-15 contain many of the rhetorical and thematic features of wisdom literature.

The Psalm seems to be a unified poem.[3]

Psalm 94, thus, seems to be the application of the communal lament for didactic purposes in the Israelite wisdom tradition.

As to any title or inscription, the Hebrew text has none.

The LXX has, “A Psalm of David himself, on the fourth day of the week.”

There is no reason to accept the LXX’s superscription as being original.

!! Social ~/ Historical Setting:

            Potentially, Psalm 94 was written in the postexilic period when the rulers over clearly had no respect or recognition of the sovereignty of YHWH.

The language and descriptions are reminiscent of Isaiah 58 and Malachi 3. “The situation resembles that faced by Amos and Micah, in which an unscrupulous ruling class oppressed the defenseless in society, those whom the prophets insisted were God’s special care.”[4]

It possibly refers to the evil kings of Israel and Judah during the Divided Kingdom, but unlikely.

The petition for theophany in the first verses suggests a communal context.[5]

Jerusalem’s evil kings would hardly allow such a gathering to petition God against him.

The Psalm is located in the current situation of evil leaders, but the main purpose is instruction for the people’s response of prayer.

“In general, Ps 94 has the same genre as Ps.

91 and 112.

These psalms were probably developed for use as liturgical instruction in the Jewish communities of the post-exilic period … although their use in the temple at Jerusalem should not be ruled out.”[6]

!! History of Usage:

            In later Judaism, Psalm 94 continued to be used in the liturgical setting.

Thus, the superscription of the LXX, “A psalm of David, for the fourth day of the week.”

VanGemeren writes of this superscription, “It reflects a later liturgical usage, as in the Talmud (b.

/Rosh Hashanah/ 31a).”[7]

Psalm 94.11 is reference a once in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 3.20.

Paul’s use of this Psalm seems to reveals his affirmation of man as completely lost in sin and unrighteousness.

While the Psalmist refers to the evil rulers, Paul applies the statement of futile thoughts to the men of the world.

Psalm 94.11 is also most commonly cited by the Church Fathers than the other verses of the Psalm because of Paul usage in 1 Corinthians as well.

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Interpretation of the Passage:

A clear connection exists between Psalm 93 and Psalm 94.

The former is a consistent expression of the Lord as Sovereign over the entire world, how all creation is completely at his command, but coming to Psalm 94, the image seems to change.

The Psalmist is in distress over the turmoil of the world and its evil rulers, who essentially spit in God’s face.

Previously the Lord was declared and worshiped as King, but now the writer distresses because evil men rule with wicked deeds.

Thus, these two Psalms together form a balanced picture of the fallen world.

God does reign and maintains complete control.

But the evil deeds on earth now still away the eschatological judgment of Psalm 93’s Sovereign King.

The prayer of the psalmist in 94 is utterly dependent upon the picture of God as described in Psalm 93.

The editor placed these two Psalms together as if to point out that the psalmist prayer according to God’s will because his prayer is anchored in the character of God as portrayed in the previous Psalm and is expounded even more in the final verses of ninety-four, particularly in the rhetorical questions of verse 20.

“Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?” (ESV).

!! Verses 1-3

Psalm 94 can be divided into six strophes: Verses 1-3, 4-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23.

The first strophe could either be described as a chiasm or an inclusio.

Whichever it is, the result is the same, emphasis lies on the middle colon.

The first bicolon stands in contrast to the third with the call to God as Judge to rise up and judge the earth, dealing with them as they deserve.

Nahum Sarna dislikes the translation, “God of vengeance,” because of the modern connotations of the word as thoughtless, emotional reaction.

James Mays defines the Hebrew word as, “an act to enforce or restore justice where the regular legal processes were not competent or had failed.”[8]

These first three verses set the tone for the rest of the Psalm.

Verses one and three also relate in form.

The incomplete parallelism introduces the subject in the first line; then in the second, the subject is repeated with the verb as compensation for the first and completing the thought.

The central bicolon appears simply to be synthetic parallelism.

Yet this synthetic parallelism comes from the necessity of external parallelism with the surrounding lines.

The “???”at the end of verse one connects directly to the “Rise up” of the next line.

??? is used in Job 3.4 and 15.37 in a manner that suggests sunlight.

Often times this word is used in order to find a existential connection with God's glory.

What else could Israelites compare his glory to but the brightest object in creation?

And just as the sun shines forth and rise over the earth, so also does God, who avenges shine forth and rise as judge over the earth.

The next two lines also express external parallelism by introducing the antagonists of the Psalm, the proud.

The next line develops these people, equating the proud with the wicked.

These three couplets also express a linear development as well.

The Psalmist first names God as the avenger.

He calls God to shine forth and rise up.

Next the Psalmist gives the petition behind his call to God, namely, to “pay back to the proud what they deserve.”

And lastly, he gives the cause or reason for his emphatic petition.

The wicked are jubilant.

!! Verses 4-7 

These verses act as an explanation of the psalmist's cry to God in verses 1-3.

He wants God to rise up and judge because of the evil deeds of the wicked.

They flow directly from verse three, "How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked be jubilant?"

The NIV translates these verses well with the repetition of "They" at the beginning of each verse (They pour out ... They crush ... They slay ... They say....) With in the Hebrew, these four verses the continuing repetition of the letter, "yod," pervades the text, repeated at least three times in each verse, creating a delightful assonance in the text.

Consistently the subject, verb and object present in the first line parallels the second in this stanza.

In four and seven the subject is renamed, but has the same referent (They ~/ evildoers; The Lord ~/ God of Jacob).

The verbs are morphologically different, but have similar meanings.

Thus, they pour out in 4A because they are full in 4B.

In five, they crush and oppress, and in six the Lord does not see, the God of Jacob pays no heed.

Lastly, arrogant words parallels boasting in four, the LORD's people are his inheritance in five, and the widow and the alien and the fatherless are all killed in verse six.

Verse seven stands out with no object for either line.

As with the previous strophe, the middle couplets are bracketed in by the outer two.

The first two lines in verse four describe the attitude of these proud and wicked men.

The tone of their words is arrogant and full of boasting.

Verse seven reveals the actual arrogant words themselves.

These proud, wicked men boast that God does not care what they do and more than that, he does not see their actions.

By the end of verse seven, a rather ugly picture has developed of the wickedness of these people.

Their pride is expressed in their conceited words, the boldness of their arrogant actions which essentially spit in God’s face.

And when no response or retribution for their evil comes form God they confidently say all the more that God does not see and does not care.

This shocking and emotional image created by the Psalmist guides the reader to side with him in his initial prayer to God to shine forth and judge.

!! Verses 8-11

Here in verse eight, the object of the psalmist's words changes.

While in verses one through seven the focus has been to God, verse eight shifts to exhortation to those who are senseless.

The context clearly indicates that these people are the wicked of verses 3-7.

As will be seen below, this strophe comes completely as a response to the words of the wicked in verse seven.

The psalmist's response comes in the form of eight lines.

The first to describing the state of the wicked's knowledge and the last two describe the state of God's knowledge in relation to the wicked.

In the center, are found four rhetorical questions.